What is Karma ? : Buddha and his Dhamma

KARMA

Is the Buddhist Doctrine of Karma the same as the Brahminic Doctrine?

• There is no doctrine in the Buddha's Dhamma  which has created so much confusion as this doctrine of Karma.
• What is its place in the Buddha's Dhamma and what is its significance which has already been told.
• Ignorant Hindus out of sheer want of understanding say by comparing merely the similarity of words that Buddhism is the same as Brahmanism or Hinduism.
• The educated and orthodox section of the Brahmins also do the same. They do so deliberately to mislead the ignorant masses.
• The educated Brahmins know full well that the Buddhist Law of Karma is quite different from the Brahminic Law of Karma. Yet they keep on saying that Buddhism is the same as Brahmanism and Hinduism.
• The similarity in terminology gives them an easy handle for their false and malicious propaganda.
• It is, therefore, necessary to examine the position closely.
• The Buddha's Law of Karma, however much may be similarity of words cannot be the same in its connotation as the Brahminic Law of Karma.
• The premises of the two are so widely different, indeed so widely opposed that the result of the two cannot be the same. They must be different.
• The principles of the Hindu Law of Karma may be stated seriatim for convenience.
• The Hindu Law of Karma is based on the soul. The Buddhist is not. In fact there is no soul in Buddhism.
• The Brahminic Law of Karma is hereditary.
• It goes on from life to life. This is so because of the transmigration of the soul.
• This cannot be true of the Buddhist Law of Karma. This is also because there is no soul.
• The Hindu Law of Karma is based on the existence of a soul which is distinct from the body.
• When the body dies the soul does not die. The soul flies away.
• This is not true of the Buddhist Law of Karma.
• According to the Hindu Law of Karma what happens when a man does a karma is this. His act produces two-fold results. It affects the doer and secondly it produces an impress upon his soul.
• Each act he does produces an impress upon his soul.
• When a man dies and when his soul escapes, the soul is full of such impressions.
• It is these impressions which determine his birth and status in his future life.
• This Hindu theory is inconsistent with the Buddhist theory of no-soul.
• For these reasons the Buddhist doctrine of Karma cannot be and is not the same as the Hindu doctrine of Karma.
• It is therefore simply foolish to talk about the Buddhist doctrine of Karma being the same as the Brahminic doctrine of Karma.
• All that one can say is beware of this jugglery.